"The US dollar weakened in early trade to Rs. 131.90/92 from its opening level of Rs. 131.90/ 132.00 on selling from local names, however demand from importers curbed the slide and the US dollar closed marginally stronger at Rs. 131.95-97.The market high was at Rs. 131.97 and the lowest was at Rs. 131.92," the Sri Lanka Forex Association said.
Meanwhile, the Colombo Stock Exchange fell 0.16 percent on a sluggish day.
The bourse closed in the red on Monday with the All Share Price Index falling 0.16 percent, down 7.77 points to 4,846.45.
The Milanka Price Index of more liquid stocks however closed in positive territory, up 1.74 points or 0.04 percent to close at 4,372.62.
The S&P SL20 fell 0.18 percent, down 4.94 points to close at 2,729.27.
Turnover reached Rs. 163.5 million with 3,611 trades taking place.
A net foreign inflow of Rs. 26.4 million was recorded during the day.
The bourse has fallen 20.2 percent since the beginning of this year.
"The sluggish momentum in the bourse prevented any movement in either direction while the blue chip counters led the slow activity during the day. A drastic decline in investor interest could be observed with the dying turnover levels. The rising interest rates led by inflation is one of the main factors for the stagnant bourse. The best option for the equity portfolio at this juncture is to identify high dividend yielding counters," Softlogic Equity Research said.
"Sampath Bank topped the turnover list with 148k shares changing hands and recording a turnover of only LKR23mn. Following its strong quarterly earnings that were released, improved investor interest in the counter was observed. However the counter which trades at 1.1x PBV declined marginally during the day to close at LKR160.3 (-0.2%). Similar interest was observed in another banking sector Hatton National Bank. The counter too, recorded a dip to close at LKR130.2 (-1.4%).
"Foreign interest remained strong in John Keells Holdings bringing the counter to the top performer’s list with a mere 87k shares been traded during the day. The counter edged up by 0.3% to close at LKR185.5," it said.
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